Trump Whines He Isn't Getting A Jury Trial In NY . . . Because His Attractive (But Inexperienced) Lawyer Forgot To Request One
Judge Engoron ordered Trump to delete a Troth post about one of his clerks and then imposed a semi-gag order on Trump (but did not outline any penalties).
Donald Trump whined (and lied) on Wednesday, crying about how “unfair” it is that his civil fraud case (accused of inflating the value of his assets in financial statements to gain favorable treatment from banks and insurance companies) is not being heard in front of a jury. “It is so unfair . . . [it’s] being used to punish me.”
We are not entitled to a jury, which is pretty unusual in the United States of America. I think it’s very unfair that I don’t have a jury.
The only reason this case will be decided by Judge Arthur Engoron and not by a jury is because Alina Habba, one of Trump’s often-befuddled lawyers and possible Wife #4, failed to check the appropriate box requesting a jury trial on a legal form. (Fun Fact: Choosing a member of your legal team based on the size of her tits is generally considered an unsound legal strategy.)
Habba went on Newsmax and lied about her embarrassing gaffe. Other more nimble legal minds were amazed by Habba’s stunning buffonery. So this case will be decided by the same guy who last week took a look at the evidence against Trump and said, “Holy shit! This orange motherfucker is so fucking guilty, we don’t even need to have a trial. All we have to do is figure out the financial penalties.” (I’m paraphrasing.)
Former U.S. Attorney Harry Litman: “For Trump to have his fate in the hands of this judge, whom he has vilified, is malpractice by his lawyers and very ominous for him. . . . It’s incredibly easy to ask for a jury trial. You just check a box on a form.”
Defense attorney Andrew Fleischman: “I honestly can’t believe that any lawyer hired on such an important case could make this mistake.”
Attorney Bradley Moss: “Will someone — anyone — please inform him it’s because his lawyer messed up the paperwork?”
MSNBC legal analyst Katie Phang: “Trump can only blame his own lawyers for this bench trial versus having a jury trial. He can’t blame the judge or even the NYAG. This is all on his defense team.”
Former acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal: “I have no idea whether this was an intentional, purposeful decision by Trump’s legal team to waive his right to a jury trial or not, because with Trump and his team, it’s hard to know where incompetence ends and where actual strategy begins.”
Fox host Jessica Tarlov: Trump “doesn’t have a top-notch legal team . . . He has the one lawyer who he had to pay in advance because he stiffs everybody. Then he has Alina Habba, who gives a great cable news hit but it seemed that she forgot—or just, I don’t know what happened—to check the box saying that they wanted a jury trial . . . Trump is complaining to the cameras and on Truth Social that it is un-American to have a trial without a jury when his own crackpot team asks for that.”
New York attorney Andrew Laufer (represented former Trump fixer Michael Cohen): “This was a huge error on the part of the defense team by failing to request a jury. It virtually negates any hope of a defense verdict. The only realistic shot the defense has is if the plaintiff fails to meet their burden under the law — prima facie case. That’s not going to happen. Trump will lose and lose big. This isn’t an appeallable issue since Trump was afforded a reasonable opportunity to request a jury trial. . . . Trump’s remedy would be to sue his counsel for legal malpractice.”
Habba was also putting on a show for her client. She began accusing the judge of devaluing Mar-a-Lago and Engoron cut her off and corrected her. According to Suzanne Craig of the New York Times:
He said, ‘Hang on. I never said that.’ And he didn’t say it. His ruling that came down last week said that there have been valuations for property appraisal that put it at that [price]. It doesn’t mean it’s worth that. . . . [T]hat’s what Donald Trump and some of his lieutenants do. They say a lie and they repeat it over and over and over. And Eric Trump, the other night, was out tweeting about that valuation saying the same thing. And so the judge — there was a very heated back and forth and vocal back and forth between the two of them at the end of her remarks. [Habba’s] audience was an audience of one. It was Donald Trump.
Trump and Habba have already been fined nearly one million dollars by this judge for wasting the court’s time with nonsense claims. Believe or not, Trump’s team was pushing those arguments again on Tuesday.
Tuesday night, Trump — who is on trial for inflating his financial numbers — lied that Engoron had thrown out 80% of the case. (Inflation Amount: 80%.) This lie was spread far and wide throughout Maga-land. Enhe has thrown out 0%.) Engoron set the record straight on Wednesday morning, telling Trump to his fat face that what he said was not true. Alas, if there was a camera showing this trial, Trump’s bullshit could have been exposed for everyone to see.
Judge Engoron issued a gag order on Wednesday afternoon for Trump after learning that Trump posted a picture of one of his clerks (who was in the courtroom), naming her, posting her Instagram link and (in yet another lie) calling her “Chuck Schumer’s girlfriend”. Trump also accused the clerk of “running” the case. Engoron ordered Trump to delete the post. The Daily Beast’s Jose Pagliery described Engoron as “usually unassuming, warm, humorous”, but he “turned ice cold when he delivered Trump a final warning”:
Personal attacks on members of my court staff are unacceptable, inappropriate, and I will not tolerate them under any circumstances. . . . Consider this statement a gag order forbidding all parties from posting, emailing or speaking publicly about any members of my staff. . . . [F]ailure to abide by this will result in serious sanctions.
Obviously, he was referring only to Trump. The judge added that he had warned Trump’s counsel off the record about Trump’s Tuesday comments yesterday, but his words apparently did not sink in. This might encourage the judges in Trump’s other trials to impose gag orders of their own.
Trump insulted the judge and prosecution lawyers outside of the court room, as his lawyers stood quietly nearby, not even bothering to whisk him away before he said something that could get him in deeper trouble. They have zero control over their client and have probably figured, well, let him do what he does. It’s easier than way.
This is how Trump responded after only two days of the least important of the four cases against him, when nothing much of anything has happened. He’s going to lose his fucking mind when witnesses (from his inner circle) testify against him (at length) and devastating evidence is being discussed.
In recent days, Trump has also: (a) demanded Judge Engoron and NY AG Letitia James resign, (b) tried to shame James by posting a video of her attending a Pride parade, (3) called James “a monster” (and “racist” and “incompetent” as well “peekaboo” (which is Trump’s clever [sic] way of using a racial slur against Black people that sounds somewhat similar but begins with the letter J), (d) called for Jamal Bowman (who apparently pulled a fire alarm by accident) to be “imprisoned”, claiming his actions “may have been worse” than the January 6, 2021 insurrection, (e) shared a video from some kook who suggested Engoron is a “hobo” who drinks malt liquor and gin on the job, and (e) shared a sketch of Jesus Christ sitting beside Trump in the court room.
MAGA cultists usually portray Trump with big muscles and not double chins and neck wattles, so I’m not sure what’s going on . . .